Ritual — Six Thousand Years of Ripening
|image= TreeRitual.png |kanji=儀式 — 熟成六千年 |unnamed jutsu=No |romaji=Gishiki — Jukusei Roku Sennen |literal english=Ritual — Six Thousand Years of Ripening |jutsu classification= |jutsu class type=Supplementary |jutsu range=Short |users=Seiōbo |debut shippuden=No |jutsu media=Anime, Manga }} Ritual — Six Thousand Years of Ripening is the ritual that earned Seiōbo her fame as a spiritual guide. As the name implies, it is a complicated and prolonged ritual that aims to refine and improve the subject's and spiritual abilities in general. She was taught the technique by an unknown, elder spiritual guide during her childhood and even though she did not design it, she is currently the only known practitioner of the art. Stages The ritual itself is divided into three stages: the stage of leaves, the stage of blossoms and the stage of peaches. Once the ritual begins, the subject's chakra is put into a very vulnerable position. Thus, it cannot be interrupted, or the subject may forfeit their ability to manipulate chakra forever or even lose the energy altogether. Stage of Leaves The subject is seated in the middle of a formation, drawn by the spiritual guide, composed of nine trails of runes who depart from the subject and debouch into a black circle of about six meters in radius. The Seiōbo then forms a specific seal, to which gray walls rise from the circle and come together above the subject, encasing the both of them in a "hollow mountain". These walls aren't made from the earth the ritual is performed on, as Seiōbo noted, but from a substance that isn't found anywhere else in the physical realm. Though it isn't indestructible in anyway, it will block any kind of as well as techniques such as that would normally allow others to intrude the hollow interior. The flow of time within and outside the walls is notably different - what may seem like months or even years can pass during the ritual, only to discover that not even a minute has gone by on the exterior. In this stage of the ritual, chakra is extracted from the subject to form a base for the subsequent stages. The previously black lines light up a bright red, and the chakra of the subject is forced outside of their body through their , in the shape of cherry blossom leaves. This process is painless, but the subject cannot open their eyes while its happening. Instead, they find themselves in a dream-like state, where they are standing before an enormous, gray mountain which they must climb with their bare hands. The cherry blossoms leaves sink into the lines when they touch and cause these to glow even brighter. This process continues until the subject is drained of all of their chakra, which can take a considerable amount of time. It is from this point on that the subject is at his most vulnerable and in danger of losing their chakra should the process be interrupted. Only Seiōbo's influence allows this normally extremely painful and even deadly event to occur painlessly. Should the dome be broken, that influence disappears and the subject most likely dies or become unable to mold chakra ever again. Stage of Blossoms The second stage is where the chakra of the subject is purified. It revolves around ridding said chakra of its impurities, operating through two concepts: balance of and detachment of emotions. Balancing Yin and Yang within the subject is symbolized by their climb towards the top of the mountain. Should they be too hasty, they are more likely to hurt themselves or slip. Should they be too cautious, the length of the effort will weigh down on them and their stamina would be drained before reaching the top. This mental effort materializes itself in the real world through the lines that contain the subject's chakra, guided by Seiōbo. This is an external process, as it does not interfere with the subject's body but instead seeks to balance their energy directly. Since the detachment of emotions is not feasible for some persons, this is sometimes the only process used within the stage. The subject will still have a much easier time with both and as well as resisting , but the effects will gradually wear out over time as the balance is upset by their emotions. If only this segment of the stage is applied, it is not necessary for all of their chakra to be drained at once. Instead, portions can be cycled in and out of the body, allowing for exposure to Seiōbo's influence and immediately return to the body afterwards. The last stage is then foregone completely. Though this variant carries less danger for the subject, it is very lengthy and as previously mentioned does not yield all the benefits. Once the chakra has been balanced independently from the user's influence, the ritual proceeds to focus on the detachment of emotions. This is to prevent that the balance of the chakra is disturbed once it returns back to the body. Within the subject's mind, this occurs once they've reached the top of the mountain. There, at the top, there will be images of those who are dear of them, each one representing a primary emotion. Each of these persons will threaten suicide by throwing themselves off the mountain, and the subject quite literally has to 'let go' of them. The nature of the ritual makes it impossible for the subject to realize that the persons in front of them are in fact not the actual persons. While emotions have been the incentive of many in the past, all of these were still only at a fraction of their potential. Emotional stress makes for an easily accessible way to dormant abilities, but at the same time it closes the door on a far greater part of the subject's potential. Only by truly separating one's spiritual and emotional dimensions can one unlock their fullest potential. This is not an easy task, as there a large part of the shinobi population relies on their emotions, positive or not, to fuel their determination for battle. Even the concept of itself limits the abilities of any shinobi, as it taints chakra with human emotions and estranges it from its original form and . Though Seiōbo can fulfill her name as 'guide' during this process through a gentle stream of her own, purified chakra, whether this part of the ritual actually succeeds is entirely dependent on the subject. Should the balance be achieved and the subject be able to segregate emotion and energy, the final stage can be initiated. Stage of Peaches The center of the red-glowing lines begins to whiten as they slowly contract towards the center of the dome. They rise from the ground by slithering up the subject's spine, leaving the body at the base of the neck. There, they continue to travel upwards to eventually form the shape of a bright red tree leaning against but no longer connected to the subject. It is at this point that the subject will awaken from his dream and open his eyes, by Seiōbo's command. Standing up, most subjects remark the strange feeling of having no chakra within their body, stating that it feels "like a sphere of glass; hollow, fragile but at the same time incredibly light." Seiōbo will command them to stand up and turn around, allowing them to witness the tree that is composed completely of their chakra. One of the leaves on the tree will rapidly blossom and then form into a peach, bright red just like the rest. Seiōbo invites the subject to eat the peach and take in their purified chakra, though she does warn that should the subject waver in their emotions, there is a chance that the energy will reject them and they will perish immediately. The subject then consumes the peach, to which both the tree and the dome disintegrate and the ritual ends. Effects Trivia *The name of the technique comes from the Peaches of Immortality, who were said to ripen six thousand years before spawning. **This ties in with Seiōbo being based off Xi Wangmu, who is the guardian of said peaches.